Media Release

13 November 2009

The failure of a racing club to prevent the escape of two horses from a training facility onto a busy road near Awapuni race track outside Palmerston North has cost it more than $135,000 in fines, reparations and court costs following a prosecution in the Palmerston North District Court.

The Department of Labour prosecuted Racing at Awapuni and Trentham Combined Enterprise following an incident on 7 June 2007 when two horses escaped from a race track on to the nearby Pioneer Highway. One horse collided with a car driven by Christopher Nicols killing him instantly. Another collided with a car driven by Peter Frizzell. While Mr Frizzell was uninjured, his car was extensively damaged.

 “This incident was totally preventable,” says Department of Labour Palmerston North Workplace Services Manager Dave Hinchcliffe-Chen. “A previous escape six months earlier should have alerted the racing club to the potential for serious harm. However, it failed to act and Mr Nichols’ death was the result.”

Mr Hinchcliffe-Chen says it should not take a serious injury incident or a death for employers or others in control of a workplace to take their health and safety responsibilities seriously.

Although the racing club is a non-profit entity, Mr Hinchcliffe-Chen said it had the same legal obligation as other businesses to identify hazards in its workplaces and then to take all practicable steps to eliminate, isolate or minimise them.

“While the Department acknowledges the club now has taken steps to keep horses secure, it is unfortunate that it took Mr Nichols’ death for it to act. This case shows that employers need to anticipate hazards and act proactively to minimise or eliminate the possibility of harm resulting from them.”

In a judgment released this week in the Palmerston North District Court, His Honour Judge Holderness ordered the club to pay $60,000 reparation to Mr Nicols’ family, $5000 to Otoota Fotu (a passenger in Mr Nicols’ car) and $3000 to Mr Frizzell. It also ordered the club to pay the Nicols’ family $3045 for financial loses and Mr Frizzell $3100 for the same reason.

In addition, the club was fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $1250 prosecution costs and $130 court costs.

While satisfied with the outcome, Department of Labour Palmerton North Workplace Services Manager Dave Hinchcliffe-Chen said the incident had resulted in the loss of a loved husband and father.

ENDS